Mako Mania Swim Meet 2012

In March Syndi went to the Mako Mania Swim Meet. 

She has been swimming for the Three Rivers Swim Club

(TRSC) for about a year-and-a-half now. This meet 

was held in Dalton High School.

Here she is racing in the 50 yard backstroke. 

She got a time of 44.37 seconds.

Stephen came along for the day to cheer his sister on.

Stevie, Syndi, and Jon were there to enjoy the races.

Now Syndi is racing in the 50 yard breaststroke.

This is her favorite stroke, and she got a time of

56.27 seconds!

Coach Coville (the man in a green shirt at the table)

has taught Syndi a lot about stroke technique. 

It was a fun day for everyone, especially Syndi.

This was her second time going to this meet.

All of Syndi's events and times were:

100 Yard Freestyle -- 1 minute 40.62 seconds

50 Yard Backstroke -- 44.37 seconds

50 Yard Breaststroke -- 56.27 seconds

100 Yard Individual Medley* -- Disqualified

*100 Yards of Individual Medley is 25 yards Butterfly, 25 Yards Backstroke,

25 Yards Breaststroke, and 25 Yards Freestyle.

Camping in Michigan - The Beach

We went to the beach a few times in our stay at the campground.
It was overcast, rainy and cold most of the time. The sun came out for parts of it.

The kids didn't mind the cloudiness, and had fun in spite of it.

It was cool to be on the shores of a Great Lake.

It's a different kind of beach...

...where a lot of pebble wash up.

But there was plenty of sand, too...

...and the kids loved playing in it.

Junior loved working on a sand masterpiece...

...just like his father.

It was fun for the whole family.

The kids swam a little, but were shivering afterward.

One day we enjoyed some beach volleyball.

Junior and Jules had fun on a nearby playground.

Hooray for the beach!

YMCA Homeschool Swimming Class

Syndi and Junior are again enrolled in the Y's homeschool swim class. Syndi is in the older group (as seen above), comprised of students who can swim on their own. They do their class in the deep end of the pool.
Junior is in the younger class (as seen above), where kids cannot yet swim on their own. Syndi began here two years ago and is now a very good little swimmer. She's not fast yet, but is working on it.
Syndi is the smallest kid in her class. She seems so big to us, but seems so small next to these other kids. Above she is seen swimming with a kickboard, used to help focus on leg and kicking strength.
Junior uses a kickboard also, but because he cannot swim on his own. At first this year he struggled with being willing to swim. I think he's just getting a bad attitude in some areas.
But on the day Jon took the kids, he talked with Junior, who decided to enjoy the class that day. Notice the smiles and "sticking-his-tongue-out" excitement.
JuneBug used this pole to work on going underwater in the deep end.
And back in the shallow end, he worked on floating on his back. He did very well that day, and boy was he proud!
Syndi did well, also. She really enjoys swimming. Here she practices diving form as she dives through a hoop. This has been a great opportunity for homeschooled kids to learn how to swim at the YMCA.

The Swim Party

We had a small "swim party" in our back yard. Below you see our spread. We had Junior's new slide and pool as well as a slip-n-slide. You can see the encroaching garden in the upper left.

Yes, small...just our three kids and a friend for Junior...Caleb McCurry. This was in lieu of any friends for his birthday.
Junior was loving it! Above you see him sliding in upside-down and backwards.
Here is a more traditional approach. Note the big smile.
Syndi enjoyed the fun, too.
And StevieBoy was a riot. He had no fear. And again he fed off the excitement of the other kids.
Here you see Syndi sliding into her little bro. Note the cool splash action in the bottom left.
Did I mention he had no fear. Of course that led to him landing on his bottom hard a few times, but he didn't mind. In the picture above, I think he's completely airborne. Junior did some pretty nifty sliding.
And Syndi made a big splash several times.
Check out the look on that face!
Stevie Boy was really loving this water-slide thingy.

Junior and Syndi decided to start drinking the water...
...and like a little brother, Stephen had to imitate them. Isn't that a classic shot?!
We finished the fun off with lunch on the deck.
What could be better than pizza rolls?